From my diary

Managed to find somewhere to park at Oxford for 30 GBP — via www.parkatmyhouse.com! — which was a relief. I’d intended to park at the park-and-ride car parks, but found out to my horror that they only allow you a max of 72 hours. For one awful moment I feared that I would have to travel by train to Oxford — not a welcome prospect while carrying a box of books and a laptop.

I don’t fancy taking my main laptop to Oxford, so I’m considering buying a cheap one, where it wouldn’t matter too much if it was stolen or got lost.

I’m now well into that uneasy period before you go away, when you regret that you ever volunteered for all this hassle! Mind you, in this case, the hassle and worry is mainly down to whichever individuals decided to make it impossible for ordinary people to travel to Oxford independently, and to force the use of public transport, Soviet-style. And I don’t even know the names of the oppressors! At least the medieval robber baron was known to his victims. The modern oppressor hides behind organisational anonymity.

Our children will gasp with amazement at the idea that a major world university tried to abolish the personal freedom that came with the motorcar and force everyone to be subservient to the state in this way. In the meantime, we must endure.